Newsletter Xagena

Antipsychotics and mood stabilisers may also include reductions in the rates of violent crime

Antipsychotics and mood stabilisers are prescribed widely to patients with psychiatric disorders worldwide. Despite clear evidence for their efficacy in relapse prevention and symptom relief, their effect on some adverse outcomes, including the perpetration of violent crime, is unclear.
Researchers aimed to establish the effect of antipsychotics and mood stabilisers on the rate of violent crime committed by patients with psychiatric disorders in Sweden.

Researchers used linked Swedish national registers to study 82 647 patients who were prescribed antipsychotics or mood stabilisers, their psychiatric diagnoses, and subsequent criminal convictions in 2006–2009.

The primary outcome was the occurrence of violent crime, according to Sweden's national crime register.

In 2006–2009, 40 937 men in Sweden were prescribed antipsychotics or mood stabilisers, of whom 2657 ( 6.5% ) were convicted of a violent crime during the study period.
In the same period, 41 710 women were prescribed these drugs, of whom 604 ( 1.4 % ) had convictions for violent crime.

However, researcher identified potentially important differences by diagnosis: mood stabilisers were associated with a reduced rate of violent crime only in patients with bipolar disorder.

The rate of violence reduction for antipsychotics remained between 22% and 29% in sensitivity analyses that used different outcomes ( any crime, drug-related crime, less severe crime, and violent arrest ), and was stronger in patients who were prescribed higher drug doses than in those prescribed low doses.

In addition to relapse prevention and psychiatric symptom relief, the benefits of antipsychotics and mood stabilisers might also include reductions in the rates of violent crime.
The potential effects of these drugs on violence and crime should be taken into account when treatment options for patients with psychiatric disorders are being considered. ( Xagena )